HARTFORD — Two weeks after a series of missteps delayed voting in Hartford, city officials tried unsuccessfully Tuesday to persuade the state to give them 30 more days to submit final election results because of "discrepancies" in their numbers.

The Hartford registrars of voters then submitted updated election returns to the secretary of the state less than an hour before the statutory deadline, which showed that nearly 100 more absentee ballots were counted than had previously been disclosed.

"We have no explanation for their numbers. You would need to ask Hartford," secretary of the state spokesman Av Harris said. "Certainly, absentee ballots can be rejected, but you would need to get that explanation from them."

Under state statutes, Tuesday was the last day that municipalities can submit amended election results to the secretary of the state's office, which then must certify them by Nov. 26. Hartford was the last municipality to submit its numbers and the only one that asked for an extension.

Hartford's City Clerk John Bazzano had sent an email to state election officials seeking a 30-day extension.

"In meeting with the [registrars of voters] office this morning, we determined that there are certain discrepancies on the Head Moderator's Return Report," Bazzano wrote. "As a result, we're asking for an extension of 30 days, if possible so that we can make the necessary adjustments and provide you with an accurate report."

In an interview that aired Sunday on WFSB's Face The State program, Segarra...

Bazzano did not go into detail on what the discrepancies were. The request was rejected by the secretary of the state's attorney, Ted Bromly, who wrote back, "That is simply not possible."

Hartford's registrars of voters — Democrat Olga Vazquez, Republican Sheila Hall and Working Families Party member Uraina Petit — have faced heavy criticism after several polling places did not open on time on Election Day because they did not have registered voter lists.

They are now also facing a state investigation. The State Elections Enforcement Commission voted Tuesday to investigate whether the registrars violated state laws by not having the lists prepared in time for the polls to open.

The commission acted on a complaint from Secretary of the State Denise Merrill that alleged "gross misconduct" by the Hartford registrars. Merrill claimed that the registrars violated six state statutes, including failure to open polling places properly, failure to provide moderators with registration lists in a timely fashion and failure to properly mark absentee ballots.

The Hartford city council has also formed a committee to investigate the Election Day mistakes.

"The apparent lack of preparation for Election Day by the Registrars of Voters in Hartford is completely unacceptable, and resulted in Connecticut voters being disenfranchised from their constitutional rights to choose their government," Merrill said in a statement. "This was completely avoidable and never should have happened."

Hartford officials did not finish checking absentee ballots until after 5 a.m. on Election Day, and there were delays in getting the voting lists to some of the polling places.

The initial numbers that Hartford submitted to the secretary of the state early on Nov. 5 did not include a total for absentee ballots. The results they submitted two days later indicated that 1,193 absentee ballots were counted and that 23 were rejected.

Vazquez has declined to comment. Petit has said she was not responsible for the absentee ballots. Hall could not be reached for comment.

On the results submitted to the state on Tuesday, officials said there were 1,309 absentee ballots — 1,286 absentee ballots that were counted and 23 that were rejected.

Election workers said the 1,193 ballots reported to the secretary of the state's office on Nov. 7 were the total number of absentees counted by the machine and by hand. That differs from the 1,309 absentees received by the town and city clerk's office.

Elections workers said the 116 absentees not counted by hand or by machine were probably voided ballots — ballots that didn't meet the proper criteria. Voided ballots could have mismatched information on the inner and outer envelopes, or have missing pieces.